Washington Keeps Up 8-yearPursuit of More Water

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The Washington Department of Ecology has requested more
than $52 million over two years for projects to increase the water supply
in Central Washington.

Much of the money would complete or advance projects begun after the
Legislature in 2006 committed $200 million to develop water resources east
of the Cascades.

Since then, DOE has pieced together conservation measures, construction
projects and deals with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The agency has
lined up enough water to irrigate 90,000 acres now served by the rapidly
diminishing Odessa Subarea aquifer in south-central Washington.

Most of the water will come by diverting water from two federal
reservoirs, Lake Roosevelt and Banks Lake, through a conveyance system
that will be within reach of 60,000 acres by next irrigation season.

It will be a milestone for a program that was introduced with much fanfare
but has yet to deliver water to fields.

"It's taken us a long time to get to this point," said Office of Columbia
River Director Derek Sandison, the DOE official in charge of finding more
water.

Lawmakers in 2006 were seeking to squelch wars over the scarce resource by
finding more water for farms, ranches, cities and fish.

They were particularly concerned about the Odessa aquifer, the groundwater
source for 102,000 irrigated acres.

At the current rate of depletion, water will be unavailable in some places
and poor quality elsewhere within a decade, DOE estimates.

Nearly all of the original $200 million to relieve the Odessa aquifer will
be gone by mid-2017, but much work will remain. Moving the water from a
canal to fields with pumps and pipes will cost millions of dollars more.
The expense likely will be borne by farmers who choose to contract with
irrigation districts. The alternative may be to gamble with the aquifer.

"Farmers will ultimately decide whether that number (the cost of the
water) works for them," said lobbyist Mike Schwisow of the Washington
State Water Resources Association, which represents irrigation districts.

Schwisow praised what DOE has accomplished so far in obtaining water and
positioning it within reach of irrigation districts.

"We've been successful in spending the $200 million," he said. "We've
taken what was a concept, and it's actively on the ground."